LOST: Week 6 - A Briefer Note... Maybe

This week's note will be different. It will be shorter, done in a different manner, and, as you can already tell, delayed a day. I went to the Bulls-Jazz game last night, where I got to witness my first Bulls game at the United Center, which I'd checked out once before for a Blackhawks game. Although hockey is fun and the Blackhawks are a very good team, that NHL game was less exciting, if not just because I don't get hockey well enough to enjoy the sport. Dudes skate around, pwn each other with checks, and score goals so quickly I can't tell how they get a good or bad shot off (as opposed to soccer, where the bigger net and field make it easier for me, in my opinion). Anyway, some highlights:

-the Chicago Bulls starting lineup intro. It was electric. Classic song. You know it. If you don't, let's take a trip down memory lane: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYFlzJyxWlw

-The game was high-scoring and close for about 2.5 quarters. Then uh... well, the Jazz are a good team this year. The Bulls are not as good.

-The halftime show was these two dudes (http://statue-duodesign.com/) who did some cirque du soleil-type balancing stuff. It was cool. Cooler? The music they did the act too. First, they did some Rocky IV montage music (not Hearts on Fire, but the instrumental part: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu00RiPjaa4&feature=related). THEN, they went for the juggernaut by ending with the "Going the Distance" theme from the original Rocky. That's a winner in my book, I'll tell ya. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvQkl7qa6RQ for the track recording, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzTlw4mNlag around 4 min for the song done in the film. Pay note to the chill part around 6:00, and of course, the ending.)

-I should emphasize that the basketball, of course, was good, but that's not gonna interest you as much as random other bullet points, is it? They had a couple celebrities at the game. Earlier on, they showed Adam Duritz, the Counting Crows lead singer, although I wasn't sure it was him at first. Later, they showed Harold Ramis, and even later, they showed Zach Gilford, of Friday Night Lights the tv show fame. I was super-excited to see homey Matt Saracen on the screen, but it makes me sad that not many people know who the f he is (and I'm guessing, a fair share of you all). Sad. He's quite an actor. Also, I googled Duritz/Gilford, and I found this picture from the game: http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/6uTFUJUYCRO/Utah+Jazz+v+Chicago+Bulls/hj_tp1abVnV/Zach+Gilford. Cool.

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I don't feel like writing the way I normally write, as I didn't take any notes down during the episode because I was tired, and I already read a couple other recaps. So instead, a couple observations to expand upon.

Isn't it so fascinating how we (or some of us, at least) view Ben Linus? I mean, I really was sympathetic towards him even when he stabbed Jacob, and I wanted very much for him to pick the good side (well, if you think Ilana/Jacob is the good side). This is the same guy who killed Locke in cold blood, apparently for good, messed with Jack and co. for several seasons, stole Rousseau's baby, drove Sayid towards his dark side, shot Desmond, let his daughter die, exterminate the Dharma Initiative, etc. etc. Yet Michael Emerson plays him so well, and he has suffered so much himself, that you can tend to forget his past malicious intentions. And how sad it was when Jack/Hurley/Richard returned to the beach, and Ben was the sad loner in the background. Emerson always brings it with Ben-centric episodes. "A Shape Of Things To Come" still gives me chills in its critical scenes.

Widmore is on his way! Side note, first, it bothers me how they always have to show every actor's name in the opening credits. I read today that this is apparently a rule with the SAG, so Cuse/Lindelof can't really do anything about it. For me, since I know actors' names way too much, that ruins say, Widmore's (Alan Dale) surprise return at the end. I might have to take some random blogger's advice and try to block the guest stars' names with my hand when I watched an episode.

Anyway, this confirms my belief that there needed to be more with Widmore, although it's hard to say that Linus is at all on the same scale as Widmore, considering Linus seems like more of a pawn, and Widmore seems to be coming here on a mission straight from... Jacob? Or Man in Black? Either way, he seems more important. It'll be exciting to see him get to the beach, although I fear that they'll wait a whole episode for that and make next week's episode all about Locke and the others at Hydra. I hope not.

Also, something I realized after reading something today. Do you realize the short timeline within which all these events have happened? According to Lostpedia timelines (http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline), which I feel must be accurate enough, it's been less than two weeks since Jack tried to kill himself. That's right, all the chaos with trying to get back to the Island, all the 70s stuff, the bomb, the Temple, everything, was in less than two weeks. Concerning Widmore, too, that means it's been only like a week since Ben called Widmore to tell him he was going to kill Penelope. And now, a week later, Widmore is about to hit the Island. That was quick.

A couple more thoughts. Good to see Ben and Richard both have more to do. The principal from Ben's flash-sideways was the annoying reporter guy from Die Hard, if anyone remembers that character. Are any of you hatin' on Jack right now? He's the man. Respect.

I'm not actually sure how much shorter this note was.